‘Saturday Night Live’ Loses Three More Cast Members

“Saturday Night Live” has given the boot to two more freshman cast members, and is losing one of its more recognizable players, sources confirm to Variety.

NBC has chosen not to renew the contracts of newcomers Noël Wells and John Milhiser while Nasim Pedrad, who appeared on the show for five seasons, is leaving to co-star in the new Fox comedy “Mulaney.”

The news comes after Brooks Wheelan, a first-year cast member, announced on Twitter on Monday that he was fired from the show.

Wells and Milhiser are both veterans of the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy troupe and were two of six new featured players that joined “SNL” this past fall.

Pedrad, most known for her impressions of Arianna Huffington and Barbara Walters, is still in business with “SNL” exec producer Lorne Michaels. The “SNL” creator is producing her new Fox comedy, which debuts this fall.

This is feedback to the article itself, not commenting for the sake of hobbies;

It seems a little misleading here and in your other related articles about Nasim Pedrad, by suggesting that; 1) She is not a veteran cast member who in reality happens to be a consistent performer and 2) That she was expelled; she just has a different project. I realize that’s not what’s really being said, it’s just what seems to be conveyed.

I’m just saying that it’s the way you’ve appeared to have roped her into a category. Not just the picture and titles here but the actual “reportings”. I feel sympathy for the temped cast of course and I’m not personally in psycho fandom of Pedrad; but overall I think she should be shown on here as given a little more credit for her contributions to SNL.

I am 54 and have been watching SNL since its inception, when it was unique. It was appointment television in those days. Often, you’d be at a party and it would stop for 90 minutes so everyone could watch. I lived in a college dorm where, if you had a date Saturday night, you’d come back early to catch the show. If it was a good date, you’d sign him in so he could watch in in the TV common room with you; not-so-good, you’d tell him you were tired and watch it with your girlfriends.SNL is not the phenomenon it once was because entertainment has changed.The viewer has so many more options as do performers. Personally I DVR the show every week and fast forward through what I don’t like. Yes, it’s not the same as the original. Guess what else has changed? Phone calls aren’t a dime any more (that’s if you can even FIND a pay phone), candy bars are more than 25 cents, and there are a lot more 6 channels on TV. It’s unfortunate that SNL (and TV in general) has no patience with performers and shows and often pull them before they get a chance to prove what they can do. The reason people who don’t watch post to complain is the same reason dogs lick their privates- BECAUSE THEY CAN.

People on here who have no clue how SNL works, no surprise this is Variety after all. All the cast members write sketches/skits during the week. The guest star pitching their new movie or album comes on the show, the cast members show them the sketches/skits. The guest star picks the ones he/she likes. They do a run through with the chosen sketches. Then they cut down even more sketches and perform it live.

If as a cast member, you don’t write any funny skits, you’re skits don’t get chosen, or the skits you are in simply aren’t funny. Dr. Evil hands you a pink slip.

SNL has and always will be the same. I’m not old enough to remember the original cast. But what I do know is this; every time the cast turns over, everybody thinks the same thing: this cast sucks, will never be as good as the last cast, who are these people?, they’re not funny. But then, after about 3-4 seasons, without you really even realizing it, you like them. But you don’t fully realize how much you like the cast until they leave and another new cast cones in. Then the cycle repeats. I remember thinking there would never been anyone better than Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz and Kevin Nealon. Who are these guys named Spade, Sandler, Farley? They’re awful! Then they left. Oh these new guys suck! Chris Kattan? Jimmy Fallon? Will Ferrell? They’ll never be as good! And it keeps going and going……5-7 years from now we’ll all look back after this cast has moved on to other things and say “wow, that was a pretty solid cast. Way better than this one they have now……”

How are they not firing Mike O’Brien?. He was just bad in a lot of the skits he played, not a natural actor and a very niche sense of humor that;s not that funny. I am starting to think its more about connections within Lorne Michaels empire and NBC than anything else. I’m not surprised by John Milhiser, although I wish he had gotten more of a chance. Nasim Pedrad was just starting to get annoying. I feel bad for Noel Wells though . . . plus she was cute.

In all the years of SNL… (more than 30 years) has there ever been any cast members with a name like Garcia, Gonzales or Rodriguez? Zero! Wonder what the reason is… being that’s what launches careers, etc.

Wells, Wheelan and Milhiser were probably the three most worthless cast members in the history of SNL. How they even got the job is beyond me. Must have involved oral sex. Nasim Pedrad was quite funny and talented, but the fact that they didn’t use her much this past season made me think she was leaving. The show is pretty bad these days. The news is just awful. They need completely reinvent Weekend Update like when they had Norm MacDonald take over.

I’m so tired of their high-brow, inside-joke, upper West-Side-style, hipster humor. Pompous, arrogant, “we-know-what’s funny and u’ll like it” attitude. Lorne Michaels — Please study your successful past with SNL. Find similar personalities that are naturally funny, not those who try to be funny or think they are funny.

I am a throwback to the first generation of the “SNL” cast. With very few exceptions I never got much beyond that. The first generation, the original Not Ready For Prime Time Players became household names and memories and to some extent “brand names.” Some of us will go to our graves (and some already have) remembering those skits. Time moves on and change and evolution happens. Perhaps through no one’s particular fault, or maybe just because I am an old fuddy-duddy, I could not tell you who has been in the “SNL” cast for not only these past years, but for these past decades. These folks will survive, and if they can make it in New York, they can make it anywhere. The entire entertainment industry has become so fragmented that no singular group or individual makes an impact any longer. The focus now is continuously on the “next big thing,” or the hoped for “next big thing.” The planet is largely a slowly spinning sphere of lost souls. We strut and fret a very brief time upon any stage.

There’s definitely a thing with SNL where new cast members seem to think it’s a guarantee to be successful elsewhere. That was never the case in the early years, because who knew if it would do well or not. I will say, though, that there have been some fantastic cast members recently that seem to get automatically written off because they weren’t part of the original cast, or whichever decade that critic was personally fond of. It seems a shame. Then again, the show’s still going after 30 some years despite the personal opinions of some. The show has changed as needed, the haters haven’t.

Then why would you read and comment on this article? I don’t understand that. I don’t go on apple picking blogs and tell people “I haven’t apple picked since I was 12 and don’t care about apple picking” because I’m not deluded into thinking they’re interested.